What is Pinterest & Why You Should Optimize For It
When it comes to new social networks, it’s hard to tell which ones to get excited about and which ones would ultimately be a major waste of time. One recent emergence into the social media world has proven to be a buzz-worthy site that is worth the investment. Pinterest is a site that allows users to save their favorite images across the web by pinning them to boards on their profile. Users can create vision boards based on any themes they choose, from architecture to weddings. You can get an idea of what gets the most attention on the site by seeing what is popular now.
Online retailers can see how powerful this network can be for their business by looking at the top gifts…
From an digital marketing standpoint, you can see how nice it is to get a numerous amount of repins by others for exposure. Plus, from an SEO standpoint, the bonus is that each pin has a dofollow link back to the page the image was taken from.
Pinterest by the Numbers
So just how popular is Pinterest? Let’s look at some of the current stats as of December 2011.
- Pinterest.com has a Google PageRank of 6 and root domain authority of 93 as scored by Open Site Explorer with 56,000+ backlinks.
- Unique visitors in the US to Pinterest is 3.2 million per month as measured by Compete.com.
- Pinterst is ranked #275 globally in Alexa, #53 in the US, and #353 in the UK.
- Pinterest has 3.3 active monthly users for their Facebook app, 67,000+ ratings for their app on iTunes, and 167,000+ followers on Twitter.
How Pinterest Works
Pinterest wants to keep their community as spam-free as possible, so you might have to request an invite to join in.
If you know someone on Pinterest, you could ask them to send you an invite as well. Once invited, Pinterest allows you to log in via Twitter…
Or Facebook…
The Facebook app will also ask you for permission to access your profile information.
Although you are granting access to your account, Pinterest does not post to your Facebook or Twitter without asking for permission. Allowing access will let Pinterest share your latest pin to your social networks if you choose to. You can also unlink your Facebook or Twitter at any time after registering.
Once you have connected, Pinterest will ask you for a username, email address, and password. In the future, you can login using your Facebook, Twitter, or email / password combination. The next three steps allow you to choose some things you like…
Based on your interests, it will automatically follow top people in those categories. This is a great way to get ideas on how to use Pinterest. You can unfollow these people from here as well with the Unfollow button.
After you have decided to follow or unfollow these suggested people, you can click on the Create Boards button to start creating boards to organize your pins into.
Once your initial boards have been created (you can add, edit, or delete them later), you will get the Pin It bookmarklet to add to your bookmarks bar.
Once installed, you will be able to add images to your pinboards by clicking on the Pin It bookmarket. Click Start Pinning to complete your sign up.
Customizing Your Profile
Once you are on the main screen, click on your name at the top right side to get to your profile.
Then click on the Edit Profile button beneath your picture.
Here, you can edit your email, notification settings, password, and add your basic information. Be sure to add your website and link to both your Facebook and Twitter accounts to have them displayed on your profile.
When finished, your profile will look like this.
The RSS button links to your latest pins feed while the others link to your specified website, Twitter, and Facebook accounts.
Adding Pins
When you see an image you would like to pin to your Pinterest boards, simply click on the Pin It bookmarklet on your bookmarks bar. When you click on Pin It, you will get an overlay selection of images to choose from on the page.
Select the image you want to save by hovering over it and clicking on Pin This. In the popup, select the appropriate board for your pin, then add details.
You can check the Facebook and/or Twitter box to share your new pin with your social networks, and click Pin It when you are finished. You can then go to see your pin by clicking on the See your Pin button.
Now that you know how Pinterest works, let’s talk about how easy it is for you to optimize your site for it!
How to Optimize Your Website for Pinterest
Pinterest is all about images, so the best way to make your site appealing to Pinterest users is to have great images! This means you need to have a model wearing your clothes in a beautiful setting, not a dress on a manikin. People are more likely to pin this…
Over this…
Also, keep in mind that Pinterest users are probably using Google image search to find some photos for their board. This means you need to make sure your images are optimized to be found – file names, alt tags, title tags, and captions need to be geared toward the right set of keywords so they rank well in image search results. Even if they are just pinning your image just because, you still might win out if one of their followers likes it enough to click and buy it!
Last but not least, you can add the Pin It button to your website so people can pin your images easier. Configure the code for the button on the Pinterest Goodies page.
Have you seen good results from Pinterest, whether it is traffic from your own profile & pins or from another user’s boards? What other Pinterest tips to you have? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
Image credit: Starting with the Vision Board.
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